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Volume 7 Number 3
FULL MOON OF THE CAMAS
June 1, 1977
The Transmission Line Corridor — " Its more than an exchange of land for a few beads ! "
St. Ignatius: There was a very poor turn out for the May 18 Reservation-Wide district meeting in Mission The Tribal Council had called the meeting to inform the public about Montana Power Company's request to conduct ground survey work for the two 500 KV line corridor through the reservation. Approximately 50 people attended the meeting.
The Tribal Council invited three Bonneville Power AdministrationEm-ployees to present information about high power electrical lines and their effects, good and bad, on the environment and human population.
Norm Gilchrist, Spokane Area Manager for B.P.A. , told the audience that Bonneville Power, in the Northwest, has the largest power transmission operation in the free world today, (over 12,500 miles of transmission lines,) and that the operation is relatively accident free. He said that most of the accidents related to high voltage lines occur on farms or ranches during the irrigation season. Farmers and ranchers who are not properly instructed in the use of irrigation pipes around high voltage areas, or that do not adhere to the safety precautions, are the ones most likely to have
an accident, which usually results in electrocusion. Inaddition to the irrigation problems, Gilchrist said that operators of farm machinery equiped with C.B. radios must have their whip attenas tied down, otherwise they also are inviting accidents. He said the B.P.A. worries about the C.B.antennas the most, because of the increased usage in the last few years.
Accompanying Gilchrist were Jim Raye, from B.P.A.'s Portland Headquarters, and Ron Rhodewahl of the Kalispell office. The three answered questions from the audience and then turned the meeting back to the Council for general discussion on the Montana Power issue.
Most of the people in attendance voic ed their opposition to any type of negotiation with Montana Power on the transmission line request. Several people said to settle the Kerr Dam situation first then maybe later discuss this new request. (Kerr Dam, which is now under lease to Montana Power, will be up for license renewell in 1980 The tribe has been in negotiation with Montana Power for a new lease for several years, however no satisfactory solutions have resulted from the meetings. The tribe last year filed for the license in 1980 from the Federal Pow-
er Commission, as has Montana Power. No decision has been made on the license.)
Prior meetings with Montana Power on the transmission line right-of-way had produced several verbal proposed, both monetary and land exchanges. One monetary proposal, the amount of which was not disclosed, was to set up an educational trust fund from which scholarships would be awarded to tribal students for higher education. Another verbal proposal was to exchange land owned by the M.P.C. in the Rattlesnake area, located near Missoula however this would involve a three party exchange between the tribe, Montana Power and the Forest Service in order to obtain one block of land adjacent to the reservation boundary.
None of the proposals have been submitted to the tribe in writing, and the Council is now waiting for a written proposal, which was to be received this week. The written proposal will be presented to the members at local District Meetings, according to several Councilmen, and the final decision will be put to a Tribal Referendum Vote.
Opponents of the transmission line right-of-way, are pessimistic about a Referedum Vote. They say that dangling a "Monetary Carrot" in front of some members will insure a yes vote to grant the right-of-way they say "The issue is much greater than an exchange of some land for a few "beads" ! It will be very interesting to see how many of the members feel this way.